1 Samuel 15:10-23

10Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11“1I regret that I have made Saul king, for 2he has turned back from 3following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and 4cried out to the Lord all night. 12Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul came to 5Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on 6down to 7Gilgal.” 13Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “8Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” 14But Samuel said, “9What then is this 10bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the 11lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for 12the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 16Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”

17Samuel said, “Is it not true, 13though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel, 18and the Lord sent you on a 14mission, and said, ‘15Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’ 19Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, 16but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”

20Then Saul said to Samuel, “17I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the 18mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21But 19the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” 22Samuel said, “20Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, 21to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.23For rebellion is as the sin of 22divination, And insubordination is as 23iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, 24He has also rejected you from being king.”